If you've lived, worked and played in Oakland County for the majority of your life as I have, you might think you know a few things about the city and county you call home.

I'm brave enough to admit today I knew nothing 14 months ago. Of course, I thought I did, but as I researched my football and subsequent basketball book more and more, I discovered my knowledge base was lacking. Over the past 14 months, I've learned so much about the city of Detroit, Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties and our metro region as a whole. My sports knowledge has blossomed and my working knowledge from a socioeconomic standpoint is greatly expanded, too.

Here's what stands out to me today: Oakland County has a long way to go to catch up to other cities and counties in basketball prowess. If you think that's mean-spirited, baseless or otherwise foolish to say, consider what Oakland County's basketball history would look like without Pontiac Northern or Detroit Country Day. When Pontiac Central closes in a few months, a significant chunk of the county's basketball cache will close with it.

Ferndale won a pair of championships under Roy Burkhart in the 1960s. Berkley had some good teams under Steve Rhoades, none better than the 25-0 edition with Bruce Flowers in the mid-1970s. Those Bears lost in the Class A quarterfinals to Pontiac Central, the farthest any Berkley team has ever advanced. The Chiefs went to four title games without bringing home winner's hardware. Southfield had some great teams, including the school's 1983 team that lost to Detroit Southwestern and Antoine Joubert's 44-point effort in the Class A semifinals. Their rival, Southfield-Lathrup, has also had a handful of great seasons in girls and boys' games alike, and save for the last two minutes of the Class A final about 15 years ago, the Chargers could have had a title in boys' basketball, too.

Obviously Pontiac Northern has earned a couple of titles as have the Eaglets of Orchard Lake St. Mary's. Country Day in girls and boys' basketball is a champion many times over along with Mary Lillie-Cicerone's Birmingham Marian teams. Her Mustangs have earned four titles in five finals appearances while neighboring Brother Rice had some good teams under Bill Norton in the 1970s.

There's a small handful of champions I'm omitting but you get the point. At face value that aforementioned list looks pretty good, right? But compared to Detroit, Flint or Saginaw, Oakland County schools, particularly the public schools, are seen within the MHSAA record books as often as the signs that tell you you're still 200+ miles from the Mackinac Bridge. Every so often you see an Oakland County school in the finals or semifinals. And before you get mad, understand that Macomb County's public schools are practically non-existent in this discussion.

What surprises me is one would think with the affluence in Oakland County, the ability to pay for and play AAU, quality coaching, gyms and weight rooms, Oakland County would have a better history. But money can't buy love, as I've heard more than once, and Oakland County school populations love football and baseball a lot more than they love roundball.

However, it's not all negative. Even as rumors swirl of the OAA's potential demise, one must look at the OAA and admit its' role in improving basketball in the O-C. The OAA gave Oakland County a look at Clarkston, Lake Orion and the two Pontiac schools on an annual basis. It forced the county's public schools as a whole to play a different brand of basketball.

Coaches familiar with the 'city game' have been populating Oakland County schools for the past 10-15 years. Not surprisingly, the tenor, tempo and energy of the game changed, too. Finally, when the OAA hired Mike Smith away from the PSL to assign games, the league gained officials who called a tougher, more physical game. It forced soft fouls and soft play out of the OAA. It also opened doors for an entire pool of officials who previously had not intermingled the two leagues to one another.

Obviously I'm starting to touch on some issues that get away from basketball and delve into culture and habit, so we'll stop here. It will be a fun last six weeks of the regular season. Can Clarkston continue an amazing season? Will Pontiac Central offer a final memory for her faithful fans? Pontiac Northern's final season as the Huskies is at hand, too. Will private schools like Country Day and Marian be holding hardware to end their season? Can any other Oakland County team step up and steal glory from a perennial contender?

Here's to a final six weeks of fastbreak, break-neck basketball!

~T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, is due August 2009.

For as long as anyone can remember in Oakland County, there's been few communities that represented the county's bedrock better than Ferndale. Its' small but distinctive footprint from Eight Mile to I-696 (formerly known as Ten Mile Road) has been witness to tremendous change, both good and bad and good again in the past 60 years, but the one constant has been Ferndale High School.

Could it be that is about to change? Will the 2008-2009 school year be remembered as the final season Ferndale High competes in Oakland County? Today the Detroit Free Press reported that Ferndale High School is considering leaving the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) for a possible reformation of the defunct Northwest Suburban League, which folded in 1992 in the shadows of the Mega League's inception in 1993.

Ferndale Athletic Director Shaun Butler told me today nothing could be further from the truth.

"While it's true we're always looking for options to serve our student-athletes, we're very happy with the OAA right now and have no plans on leaving," Bulter said.

So how did Ferndale become one of the schools mentioned as possible deserters?

"In today's economic conditions, especially with the cost and time as it relates to travel in educational athletics, everyone's considering options. What really changed for us was Waterford's schools leaving the OAA," Bulter explained. "While I hated to see them go from a competition standpoint, because they were very competitive with us, it means I don't have to travel out to Waterford Kettering on a Tuesday afternoon. Going that far was a hard sell in educational athletics from a resource standpoint."

How long has Ferndale been part of the Oakland County landscape? Consider the school's football team, which regularly opened with Royal Oak High (later Royal Oak Dondero) for nearly 40 years. The Eagles played a huge league game with Royal Oak Kimball (now Royal Oak High) for nearly as long, and how many SMA championships were decided between the Southfield Blue Jays and Ferndale's Eagles? Finally, the school's grudge match with the neighboring Vikings of Hazel Park High is entering a 8th decade, with the Vikings holding a 37-33 margin in 70 games.

The Eagles were part of the old Eastern Michigan League (EML) until 1964 and are charter members of both the Southeastern Michigan Association (1964-1993) and the OAA (1994-present). The Eagles also played an annual home-and-home game with Pontiac High (now Pontiac Central) that alternated between Wisner Stadium and Ferndale's stadium, now called Gus Hanson Field, pictured above.

"A lot of scuttlebutt was discussed when the northern Oakland County schools started coming into the OAA, but rest assured, we're not leaving the OAA," said Butler.

Today the Detroit Free Press reported that the Mega League, a 28-member high school league domiciled in Wayne County, is about to crumble. The paper reported eight schools will leave the Mega and form a new league, tentatively called the Downriver League, in early May, and another six schools seem poised to leave the Mega just as quickly to reform the Northwest Suburban League.

The charter Northwest Suburban League existed from 1963-1984 and included Oakland County schools Birmingham Groves, North Farmington High and Oak Park High. It also housed the first Class A football champion, 1975's Livonia Franklin Patriots. After a dormant 1985, the NSL reformed in 1986 until it folded in the shadows of the Mega.

The eight schools rumored to form the yet-to-confirmed Downriver League? Allen Park, Southgate, Woodhaven, Trenton, Gibraltar Carlson, Wyandotte and Taylor rivals Truman and Kennedy. The six schools contemplating leaving for the reformed NSL are Garden City, Dearborn Edsel Ford and competing rivals Crestwood and Annapolis from Dearborn Heights and Redford's Thurston and Union high schools.

That doesn't seem to include Ferndale. While not toney like the Bloomfields and Birmingham, Ferndale is distinct and unique without glitzy clubs and posh restaurants. It's got a little bit of grit and some strong flair of it's own. It's an Oakland County renaissance story. On the preps scene, Ferndale is still a long-standing competitor in many sports. Their football, basketball and baseball tradition remains strong and the school annually hosts one of the more well-attended boys' basketball quarterfinals.

Thankfully, we're not talking about another Michigan institution pulling up stakes. Ferndale's Eagles are staying put right where they belong.

~ T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit’s High School Football Rivalries, due August 25, 2008 from Arcadia Publishing.

(Photo of Gus Hanson courtesy of The Daily Tribune, Royal Oak, Michigan)